Talking Squirrels and First Steps
by Alice May Sawyer
Summary: Just another day of Carlton and Marlowe with their young kids, Hollie and Aaron. And this time they have to deal with Hollie and her talking toys and a troublesome broken camera. WARNING: This story is complete and utter fluff. Please read and review!


**A/N: Heeeeyyyy. Another Psych one-shot! Again featuring our favorite family - the Lassiter's! This is a short little thing debuting Lassie's and Marlowe's younger child, Aaron! So...you guys don't NEED to have read my previous stories to get this, but it might make more sense to understand Hollie's personality, who Rylie is...things like that. But anyway, enjoy and please review!**

**Warning: Complete and utter fluff.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Psych. That's all Steve Franks. And the idea of the squirrel is based of something from my best friend.**

"...Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me!" Hollie happily sang, her blonde curls bouncing as she did so.

Marlowe smiled at her 5 year old daughter, camera pointed at her. "Fantastic job, Holls."

Hollie giggled and hugged her stuffed animal squirrel tightly in her small arms.

Carlton shook his head as he fixed his grip on his younger child, 1 year old Aaron. The small black-haired boy stood in his father's lap, small feet lifting a few inches up then going back down in a slightly different place every now and then as if he was trying to regain his balance. So far he was yet to stand or walk on his own without the aid of his mother or father.

Hollie sat down next to her dad on the floor, legs crossed. "Daddy, I think Mr. Fluffy needs a new eye."

The detective shot a glare at the ragged stuffed animal being so lovingly carressed in his daughter's arms. The thing was the bain of his existance; right next to Spencer. Why his wife had decided to ever to get that for their daughter when she was just an infant, still confunded him to no ends. He had hoped for years now that Hollie would treat the old thing as she did every toy she had; give it all her attention and as much love as she could for a few days then dump and completely forget it until the cycle continued. But for whatever reason, Hollie had an indescribable bond with that damnable thing. And yet, even though he hated it with every fiber of his being, he still found himself saving it for her time and time again. So far, he had stopped his car in the middle of traffic and dodged every vehicle that almost hit him to rescue the faux animal when she had thrown it out the window to see if he was a flying squirrel, he had climbed numerous trees when she tossed it in the thick branches stating that "he wanted to visit his family", had spent hours searching through trashcans and lost and found bins when she misplaced it, and had sewed and performed several "surgeries" with Marlowe just to keep her happy.

After giving the toy a death glare with as much hate as he could muster, Carlton looked to his daughter's bright blue eyes.

"Hollie, your mother _just_ sewed on a new eye for it."

"Daddy, he's Mr. Fluffy; not it. And it's falling off...see?" Hollie pulled on the large red button Marlowe had sewed on a few days ago and twisted it in a complete circle to empahsize her point of how loosely it was attatched.

Marlowe made a clicking sound with her tounge. "Hollie, what did you do now?"

"_I_ didn't do anything. But Arie kept throwing it at the wall."

"And why did Aaron have it?" Lassie asked.

"Because he looked all alone in his crib and like those bad guys you arrest and go to jail, so I gave him Mr. Fluffy, but he threw it at the wall. So I gave it to him again and he threw it again, so I gave it to him again, and he kept throwing it and I kept giving it to him," Hollie stated as if it was obvious.

"Why didn't you just take it away when he threw it?" Marlowe asked.

"He was laughing! I thought that was good!"

Carlton shook his head. "Well don't play with the eye. You'll only make it worse."

"Daddy, all he needs is another surgery...he has that all the time. Like those people from Grey's Panmanity."

Marlowe chuckled. "Do you mean Grey's Anatomy, sweetie?"

Hollie smiled at her. "Yeah! That!"

"Where did you hear that?" Carlton asked.

The small girl shrugged. "I dunno. I heard Rylie say it when we were at his Daddy's work."

Carlton shook his head and grumbled under his breath, "Spencer..."

"But seriously, Daddy. Just listen! Mr. Fluffy's crying and saying sad stuff." Hollie said and pushed the stuffed squirrel closer to her father's face.

He moved away from the animal, taking his hands off Aaron and scooting a bit further away on the tan carpet. "Squirrels don't cry or talk."

"Yes they do!" Hollie insisted.

"Oh really? Then what do squirrels say?" he asked with a slightly bemused look on his face.

Marlowe gasped. "Carlton..."

"Duh daddy. Squirrels say cheepy cheepy cheepy," Hollie stated in a matter-of-fact tone, her voice getting even higher when "imitating" her squirrel.

"Carlton," Marlowe again called.

The father shrugged. "Well I wasn't aware."

"It's very superly true," Hollie nodded.

"Carlton!" Marlowe nearly yelled.

He looked over at her. "What?"

The mother pointed to their youngest child; wide hazel eyes watching Pooh Bear on the TV, smile on his small face complimented by cute dimples, but most importantly...the small baby was standing on his own; seemingly unphased by the fact his father's hands were no longer around his chubby stomache and chest.

Hollie squeeled and jumped in place, excited her little brother.

Lassie laughed once and quickly walked over on his knees a few feet in front of his son, arms reached out; trying to usher him on.

Aaron looked at the older man of the house and giggled.

Carlton looked over to Marlowe. "You're recording this, right?"

As if on cue, Marlowe hit the side of the black camera. "Argh it just died!" she exclaimed in excitement of the moment, but also panic that she was missing it.

"Dammit!" Carlton cursed.

Hollie gasped. "Daddy, you said a swear! You owe a dollar to the jar!"

The older man waved a hand at her, still looking at his wife. "I'll do it later. There are batteries in the bottom drawyer in the kitchen."

Marlowe nodded and quickly ran to the kitchen.

As soon as she left, throwing open the drawyers and moving the various things inside it, Aaron looked down at his feet and back up to Lassie, taking his first wobbly step towards the head detective.

"No!" Carlton exclaimed, hitting his fists against his knees. "No no, Aaron! Stop it! Wait just two seconds- MARLOWE!"

The mother ran in, fumbling with the batteries; struggling to quickly put them into the camera. "You do it!" she yelled at him, tossing the camera and batteries to him.

Effortlessly, her husband caught all three things and quickly put the batteries in, flipping the cover to secure the source of energy wouldn't fall out. He then pointed the camera to his toddling son and to Hollie, who was bouncing and giggling next to her younger brother, and pressed the small oval button to turn the camera on. But...nothing happened. Again and again he repeatedly pressed the button, but still there was nothing.

Marlowe stood behing him. "What's wrong?"

"Not sure..." Carlton replied, his brow furrowed in confusion. He flipped the camera over, back to the batteries and immediately began mentally punishing himself. "Son of a- I put them in wrong."

"Here give it back to me," Marlowe took the camera from him, swiftly flipping them into the right slots and finally turning the camera on. She zoomed in on her black-haired boy and was about to press the button, but of course, just as the video started recording, Aaron stopped in his tracks and wobbled a little in his spot until he fell face first onto the carpet.

The small boy pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and giggled, smiling up at his mom and her camera.

"No! Argh we missed it!" Marlowe shut off the camera and stooped down, picking up the happy baby. "You are just trouble, mister."

Aaron laughed in response and leaned his head against his mother's chest.

Hollie scooted on her knees over to the head dectective. "Daddy?"

"Yes?" he responded, rubbing a hand over his face.

"You and mommy missed it."

Carlton shook his head. "I know, Hollie."


End file.
